


Shield Down

by ragewerthers



Category: Final Fantasy XV
Genre: F3S, Fluff, Gen, He just wanted to tidy up, Humor, Poor Gladiolus, Tickling
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-10-30
Updated: 2019-10-30
Packaged: 2021-01-13 00:36:46
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,963
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21235226
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ragewerthers/pseuds/ragewerthers
Summary: Caravan's were not made for people like Gladiolus.  When a cleaning spree goes wrong will the Chocobro's be able to help?





	Shield Down

**Author's Note:**

  * For [bgn846](https://archiveofourown.org/users/bgn846/gifts).

> This is another wonderful prompt from my friend bgn846 for our F3S!
> 
> She asked for: "Gladio is tidying up the caravan and literally gets his broad shouldered frame stuck in between the wall and some piece of built in furniture. Of course it takes all three of his friends and maybe a crowbar to get him unstuck."
> 
> This was incredibly fun to write and I loved getting to write him slightly silly and out of his element! XD
> 
> You can also find me on tumblr at: ragewerthers.tumblr.com
> 
> Happy reading! :D

Staying in a caravan had its ups and downs.

For Ignis, the kitchen left  _ everything  _ to be desired.

For Noct the beds were no more comfortable than the rocks of the Haven.

For Prompto, the aluminum siding always seemed to play havoc with his electronics.

For Gladio… it was the size.

Try being a 6’5” man attempting to live inside a sardine tin. It wasn’t a pretty sight.

Trying to sleep in the bed? Don’t fit.

Trying to take a shower? Don’t fit.

Trying to squeeze past Prompto to grab breakfast?  _ Nobody  _ fit.

It was horrible! However… it was home. At least for the short time that they paid for the rental and being such, everyone still had to do their part to keep their little slice of home habitable. It was one of those days where Ignis was out shopping for some ingredients and the mayhem twins were off gathering potions that Gladio decided to do his part and tidy up the camper.

Ignis wasn’t the only one who enjoyed things being tidy and given the chance, Noctis and Prompto would allow their small home to become a hovel so best to try and tidy it up now.

First things first… picking up every wrapper and chip bag the chuckleheads had decided was too burdensome to carry to the trash bin. Gladio moved around the tiny space, finding the damn things crammed into almost every crevice.

A chip bag in the sink.

A few candy wrappers somehow trailed into the bathroom.

There was even an ebony can…  _ an ebony can... _ that had rolled under the table and come to rest against the space between the wall and one of the seats.

Gladio was caught somewhere between shock and amusement that Ignis had added to the mess, if only on accident. There was a small part of him that debated taking a picture of this as evidence for future teasing, but… he valued his life and safety so he tucked his phone away once more.

And then promptly pulled it out again to snap a picture.

It was just too good to pass up.

Setting his phone on the table he crouched down and began to shuffle his way underneath the cheap plastic and metal piece to try and reach the damn thing. Finally, his hand managed to grab the small can and he started to shuffle his way backwards.

Or at least… he tried.

With the campers being as tight and tiny as they were this meant that the furniture was also tiny. What was happening now only drilled that fact home.

Somehow… he’d managed to wedge himself rather firmly between the one metal bar used to prop up the plastic tabletop and one of the seats. And now, it seemed like no matter what he did, he was well and truly stuck.

He rolled his shoulders, shimmied his hips and even tried to move forward in a weird attempt to pull a U-turn and come around the metal pole. This was his worst decision by far and fifteen minutes later found him lying on his stomach on the rough and sandy carpeting, contemplating what he could’ve done to deserve this.

Many, many, many things came to mind, but they were all hilarious and he didn’t regret them a bit.

“Gladio? Gladiolus are you still here?”

Okay… maybe he regretted them a little.

“Yeah! I’m… I’m still here!” Gladio called, getting back up on his knees as he heard Ignis calling him through the door.

“Oh, wonderful. Could you grab the door for me? I’m afraid my hands are a bit full at the moment,” Ignis called back, the sound of shifting paper bags easily heard through the caravan’s door.

“Uuuhhh… no,” Gladio answered honestly, trying once more to squeeze his large, muscled shoulders past the seat and metal bar.

“What? What do you mean  _ ‘no’ _ ?” Ignis asked, the pitch of his voice making Gladio wonder if he would be better off to hide under this table forever.

“I mean… it’s more of… I… can’t,” he grumbled, shaking his body a bit and jostling the table. Sadly it still remained immovable and he huffed. “I’m a bit… stuck, Iggy.”

There was a pause where Gladio thought perhaps the Adviser hadn’t heard him.

The snort that resounded a second later told him he had thought incorrectly.

“You have got to be joking,” Ignis asked, the sound of a barely contained chuckle evident in his voice and Gladio would’ve found it cute if it wasn’t so embarrassing. The next thing he heard was the sound of the grocery bags being set on the table outside and then the creaking of the caravan’s door.

Gladio felt Ignis’s footsteps vibrate through the floor and at this moment the only thing he could be grateful for was the fact that being stuck down here allowed him to hide the flush of embarrassment riding high on his cheeks.

“And what have we here? Were you trying to play hide and seek by yourself, Gladio?” Ignis asked, though this time there was no hiding the laughter in his voice.

“Oh ha, ha. You’re hilarious,” Gladio grumbled. “No! I was cleaning up and got stuck down here getting  _ your _ Ebony can! So… really this is all your fault.”

“What?! I would  _ never _ leave litter lying around,” Ignis huffed, Gladio smiling as he knew the man was probably standing there with his arms crossed over his chest.

“Oh yeah? I got picture proof,” Gladio stated smugly, soon hearing the soft ‘ _ beep _ ’ of something overhead. The noise suspiciously sounding like the buttons of a phone being hit.

“Not anymore you don’t,” Ignis replied, setting Gladio’s phone back down on the table. “And if you ever dream of coming out from under there you will hand me that can right now.”

It was Gladoi’s turn to make a little indignant huff, but… he really was getting sick of being trapped down here in the land of dust bunnies and undertable gum  _ which _ he was lucky enough not to have gotten his hair stuck in… yet.

“Fine! Here… just… help me get out of here,” Gladio mumbled, reaching behind him to hand off the Ebony can, hearing the crinkle of it being crushed in Ignis’s hand before it clattered into the trash bin.

“Alright. Now that we have that out of the way, lets see what we can do here,” Ignis mused, stepping a little closer.

Gladio felt Ignis kneel down to the left of him, the man probably ducking down to try and find an easy way to free him.

“Have you tried turning your body a bit more? Leaning to the side and keeping your shoulders vertical with each other instead of horizontal?”

“Tried it. I seem to end up getting lodged somewhere near my lower ribs then and I don’t understand how,” Gladio answered honestly.

“Hmm… here… try it again and I’ll see if I can’t guide you out. Like backing up the Regalia… sort of,” he murmured and Gladio could still hear the smile in his voice. However, he was grateful for the help now and nodded.

“Okay… here I come,” Gladio warned as he started to shuffle backwards… before instantly shouting and shooting forwards again. Ridiculous laughter was bubbling up out of his chest as Ignis’s hands had found his lower ribs and were squeezing just a  _ bit  _ too much, sening the Shield into a ridiculous giggle fit.

“Gladiolus?! Gladio what’s wrong?” Ignis asked, slightly stunned, taking the sudden movement as a bad thing before the sounds of laughter finally registered. “Oh gods…,” the Adviser chuckled, giving the broader mans sides a few more teasing squeezes and listening to Gladio’s laughter increase. “You’re still ticklish?”

“Stahp! Stahahap it! I-I am n-now…. lehet gohoho!” Gladio begged, soon finding a reprieve to his sides as Ignis stopped his unintentional attack. Gladio tried to catch his breath and wondered if he prayed to the Astrals if they would let the old carpeting swallow him whole?

“That is absolutely endearing, Gladio, but I do apologize,” Ignis chuckled, not sounding apologetic in the least! The asshole.

“Yeah, yeah… well anymore ideas?” Gladio mumbled, trying to move past his silly display when he heard the sound of their younger counterparts getting closer. “Fantastic.”

“Oh shush, they may be just the help we need. Prompto! Noctis! May I borrow your assistance for a moment?” Ignis called, resting his elbow on the small of Gladio’s back.

“Sure! What’s up, Igster?” Prompto asked as he bounded into the caravan. “Need help with din- what the hell?”

“What? Is he making that stinky tofu aga-........ What the hell?” Noct practically mimicked Prompto.

Ignis chuckled and Gladio wondered how much more his dignity could take.

“Our dear Shield here has managed to get himself stuck cleaning up after yourselves,” Ignis said lightly.

“Actually I was cleaning up after all thre-AGH! I’m sorry! I’m sorryhehee!” he cackled as he recieved a well placed jab to his side, making him topple to the floor in a heap.

“Now… where was I?” Ignis mused before standing up and moving away from the Shield.

“Prompto, would you be so kind as to grab the butter from the grocery bags outside? And Noctis, there is a crowbar in the trunk of the Regalia. If you two could bring me those items I think all three of us may be able to free him.”

“You got it, Iggy! I just have to do one thing,” Prompto answered and before long Gladio could hear the sound of a shutter clicking as Prompto’s camera made its debut.

“Oh! That’s a good one! Smile for the camera, Gladio!” Prompto teased as he took a few more picks, Gladio managing to reach his hand out from underneath the table to flip him off.

“Come on, Prom. If you keep that up he’ll have you doing extra training for the foreseeable future,” Noctis chuckled, though Gladio could hear the glee in his voice. This was something he wouldn’t be living down too soon.

In the end it took two sticks of butter, the use of the crowbar and Prompto and Noctis pulling on Gladio’s trousers to finally free the man.

Many lessons were learned that day. 

The first, that those stuck under tables shouldn’t talk shit or their friends would get their comeuppance.

The second, that caravan’s were not meant for normal sized people and were probably made for toddlers and fae folk... the only people small enough to move around freely within the confines of its walls.

And lastly, that the power of friendship, butter and crowbars could solve any problem.

“Dude, you smell like a tub of popcorn,” Prompto teased as they drove off toward their next destination. The owner of the caravan not entirely thrilled that the table had been wrenched from the wall to free a titan of a man.

“Keep it up, Chuckles,” Gladio warned, earning himself another snicker from the gunner who turned around in his seat.

Noctis smiled beside him, making Gladio huff a bit, arms folded over his chest as he tried his best to pout.

“Come now, Gladiolus. It’s not everyday they see a Shield of Lucis wedged under a table,” Ignis teased, his sparkling as he glanced at the man in the rearview mirror.

Gladio narrowed his eyes at that and opened his mouth.

“Did I ever tell you two the time I caught Ignis horking down a pack of gummy bears and a baggy of cheese puffs down at the vending machines by his office?” he asked, quirking an eyebrow as two pairs of eyes looked at him with wonder. 

The third pair of eyes marking him for murder.

“Gladiolus…  _ don’t you dare…, _ ”

“It was about two years ago…,”

“Gladiolus!”


End file.
